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Senator Marco Rubio is demanding the resignation of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg over his handling of the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment.
A Norfolk Southern train with 50 rail cars, 10 of which were carrying vinyl chloride, derailed in East Palestine on Feb. 3. The derailment caused hazardous chemicals to spill onto the ground and sent a plume of smoke into the air.
Officials conducted a controlled release of chemicals to avoid the risk of an explosion. Residents were evacuated before officials conducted the release, but have since been allowed back.
While Buttigieg hasn’t been to East Palestine, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation told Fox News Digital that “[Federal Railroad Adminisrtration] and [Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration] staff were on the ground within hours of the derailment and the EPA Regional Administrator and EPA Administrator are visiting. [National Transportation Safety Board] is the lead investigator and DOT is in a supporting role.”
OHIO CONGRESSMAN SLAMS ‘BLAME GAME’ AFTER BUTTIGIEG PASSES BUCK ON DERAILED TRAIN IN EAST PALESTINE
Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Rubio said in a letter sent to Biden on Wednesday that “Secretary Buttigieg downplayed and ignored crisis after crisis” and prioritized “topics of little relevance to our nation’s transportation system.”
“At no time has that been more apparent than the past two weeks,” Buttigieg said. “Secretary Buttigieg refused to acknowledge the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, until his intentional ignorance was no longer tenable. Even after acknowledging the tragedy, he continues to deflect any accountability for the safety of our nation’s rail system. The circumstances leading up to the derailment point to a clear lack of oversight and demand engagement by our nation’s top transportation official.”
Rubio says this is “part of a two-year long pattern.”
“During historic maritime…
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